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Question about Indigo Buntings.

7 years ago

We have them around here during the summer. I'm used to them being fairly small birds. Well recently I've been seeing them about the size of a robin. At first I thought maybe they were blue grosbeaks, but I'm thinking they are just larger indigo buntings. Both of them have those whitish lower bills. Any clues you use to figure out which one they are? They are pretty good at staying well hiden, so I haven't been able to spend much time looking at them.

Thanks.

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Comments (5)

tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Wayward Lazuli buntings? Immature Blue Grosbeak? I can't imagine a robin sized Indigo Bunting.

tj
gyr_falcon
7 years ago
If you are getting the impression they are robin sized, that would point to blue grosbeak. Look for the chestnut brown bars on the wings, and the proportionally larger bill.
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catherinet
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks tsugajunkie and gyr_falcon. Here's a pic of it that I tried to enlarge so you could see it better, but it's not a very good picture. And the bird wouldn't come out from behind the leaf, so I couldn't see it's wing. That beak is pretty "gros", isn't it? :)
gyr_falcon
7 years ago
That one looks like a bunting to me. The grosbeaks I am familiar with are a deeper blue; the buntings are the ones that sometimes have that turquoises-like sheen. I confess though, that it is 1:30am and I'm tired, and only looked at it briefly just now before shutting down the computer. But that is my quick impression FWIW.
catherinet
Original Author
7 years ago
Ok. I'll try to get a better pic, if I ever can. I was thinking it was probably too much to hope for, to have blue grosbeaks.......but you never know. Thanks gyr_falcon.

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